


just bros being bros

by ArgentLives



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-24 00:49:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4899130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentLives/pseuds/ArgentLives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, Barry,” Cisco breathes, his face very, very close, and Barry feels his heart speed up in response. “I was just wondering, if that thing I mentioned before…well, whether you had any chance to test it out. And, you know, how that’s working out for you.”</p><p>“Well…” is Barry’s only response, and Cisco decides he’d rather find out firsthand anyway.</p><p> </p><p>[In which Cisco and Barry are both hopeless idiots who need to just get over themselves and go out already and Caitlin is entirely fed up]</p>
            </blockquote>





	just bros being bros

**Author's Note:**

> written for the sentence prompt: "You fainted…straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”

Cisco asks him out, like, a lot. Of course, Barry doesn’t really realize that that’s what’s happening at first. He’s always been pretty oblivious when it comes to that kind of thing, and even though it’s not like no one has ever shown any interest in him before, growing up with a childhood full of bullies and a whole slew of insecurities makes it so that he still finds it kind of hard to believe when anyone really does.

And so he doesn’t really think about it, all the times that Cisco has suggested they go out for drinks after saving the city or crash at his place to watch movies after a long day of training—he assumes that he’s just being friendly. Which isn’t unusual, because they  _are_  friends, and he gets along really well with Cisco. Like, really well. Cisco is funny, he’s cool, he’s smart, he’s witty, he’s got the most adorable thing he does when he gets excited about something and he’s got the cutest smile and—uh, yeah. Really good friends.

He’s usually got something planned with Iris, or with Joe, or he’s honestly just too tired to do anything other than sleep, so it never really happens. Still, Barry doesn’t like to miss it, and he always pesters Caitlin about it the next day, wondering what they did, where they went, if they had fun, and so on.

He never really asks himself why he doesn’t ask Cisco these things, not until the day Cisco comes into work looking even happier than usual and Barry asks Caitlin with a knot in his stomach and a feeling he can’t quite place whether or not Cisco met anyone the night before, and if that’s what’s suddenly given him more pep in his step. He tries to make it sound like a joke, and he tries to keep his voice from getting all high and squeaky, but judging by Caitlin’s face she’s less than impressed.

He’s still not anticipating her reaction, the way she throws her hands in the air in exasperation and then pokes his chest forcefully, looking incredibly fed up.

“Oh,  _honestly_ , you two. What am I supposed to do with you boys?” she sighs in frustration. “Barry, the reason Cisco keeps asking you to go out with him after your Flash business is because  _he’s asking you to go out with him_. You can’t really  _that_  oblivious, can you?” she says, leveling him with a pitying look.

Barry sticks out his tongue at her, because, well, yeah—apparently he can. At the same time the knot in his stomach un-clenches and he feels a thrill of excitement at what Caitlin is telling him, at what she’s inferring, and apparently what he’s been too blind to see.

“So…does that mean he didn’t meet anyone?”

Caitlin groans and drops her head into her hands.

“Unbelievable,” she grumbles, before looking back up at him. “No, Barry, Cisco didn’t get laid last night, and he’s still fully available, if that’s what you’re asking. He’s just acting like that because beat me in Mario Cart, and he’s being all cocky about it. Which, I’d like to point out, is only because it’s such a rare occurrence. I never lose.”

Barry laughs as she scrunches up her nose at the memory, and bids her good night. When he gets home, he wastes no time clearing his schedule for the rest of the week so that the next time Cisco gives him a high-five and an enthusiastic slap on the back and says they should go out to celebrate, he’s fully prepared with an unhesitating  _‘yes’_. He just hopes he doesn’t sound too over-eager.

Cisco’s eyes widen at first, like he isn’t really expecting it, and then a slow smile spreads across his face. 

“Oh, excellent. I’ve been meaning to check out this new bar down in Keystone—come on, if we head over now I think we’ll still make it in time for free all-you-can-eat pistachios.”

Barry shakes his head fondly but doesn’t question it, watching Cisco hurry to grab his jacket and then start to push him towards the door. He stops all of a sudden with a sheepish grin on his face and turns to face Caitlin.

“Hey, Cait, you coming too?”

“No thanks—I think I’ll pass. I’ve had enough of bars for a long, long time. But you two have fun, and enjoy the company,” she says pointedly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the pair of them. 

Just as they’re about to leave, she remembers something, and jumps up from her desk to shove something into Barry’s hand. He holds it up in front of his face to get a better look at it—it’s a tiny little bottle with some mystery liquid inside of it. He raises an eyebrow at her, having an idea of what it might be.

“Just a little something I whipped up. I’ve been working on it, trying to improve from the last one—I think this one should last longer. You know, for liquid courage and all,” she gives him an encouraging little smile that he returns with a heartfelt ‘ _thank you._ ’ 

It’s strange—he hadn’t even realized that he’d been so nervous until she mentioned it, and he kicks himself for being so damn obvious about it. Since when had he started being nervous around  _Cisco_?

Once they’re outside he turns toward Cisco, who’s eyeing him expectantly. It doesn’t take long for him to catch on.

“Seriously?” he laughs, “You want me to run us there? I don’t even know how to get there—and don’t you have a car?” 

“Well, yeah,” Cisco says, holding his hand over his heart in mock-offense, “but I never really get to experience your speed first hand. Caitlin has, like, a bunch of times already. Come on, I’ll be right here, like your own personal GPS.”

“Fine,” Barry sighs, not really minding it at all. If there’s anything he loves more than using his speed to save people, it’s using it to show off. 

It takes them less than ten seconds to get there, and Barry has to take a moment to recover from how good Cisco looks with his hair all windswept like that, his eyes wide-open and bright with excitement.

“That was awesome,” he breathes, and Barry can’t help the boost it gives his ego. So far, so good.

And then they’re actually inside, and, much to Cisco’s delight, just in time for free pistachios. Who knew the guy had such a thing for nuts? Barry nearly chokes on the one he’s eating as the thought enters his mind.  _Not what I meant, oh my God,_  he tells his thoughts, which are veering toward very not-innocent territory.

Cisco proposes a toast, and Barry takes Caitlin’s concoction out of his pocket. He clinks glasses with Cisco and then downs the whole thing in one go, even though there’s not much of it, and almost immediately feels a haze settle over his mind, a blurriness to his surroundings as the world seems to start spinning around him. He attempts to stand up—and promptly passes out. The last thing he remembers is a pair of surprisingly strong arms breaking his fall.

He won’t see the text from Caitlin, the one telling him  _‘oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that you probably should mix it with something first, or not drink it all at once’_ , until later.

When he comes to, he’s somewhere unfamiliar, and thankfully his head doesn’t really hurt other than a dull sort of ache. He corrects himself from earlier—because the only thing he loves more than using his speed to save people right now is the fact that he can’t really get hangovers because of it.

He sits up and blinks, taking in what’s around him. There’s a glass of water on the table next to him and there’s something playing on TV, and he seems to be on someone’s—he’s assuming it must be Cisco’s—couch.

“He lives!” Cisco exclaims when he walks into the room and sees that Barry is finally awake. “You were starting to worry me for a minute there, man.”

Barry groans as Cisco plops down next to him, feeling more exhausted than he probably should.

“How do you feel?”

“Fine. But remind me to never accept anything from Caitlin ever again. Like ever.”

Cisco laughs and Barry rubs the back of his neck, trying to recall how exactly he got here.

“What exactly happened, anyway?” he asks, fearing the worst.

“Dude…you fainted…like, straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.” 

Barry rolls his eyes at Cisco, feeling his face heat up in mortification at the thought. It’s certainly not like Cisco has never seen him faint before, but this is different. God, that must’ve been a sight.

“And then I brought you here, you know, because I wanted to make sure you weren’t gonna die on me or something.”

“Well, thanks,” Barry says, and pouts as another thought occurs to him. “Shit, I’m sorry. I screwed up our date and everything.”

“This was a date?” Cisco asks, sounding surprised.

Barry’s eyes widen and he shakes his head, frantically attempting to backtrack and mentally cursing Caitlin for ever assuring him that Cisco had felt the same way.

“Uh—no, no, I mean, like—a…a friend date. Like a date with a friend. Just two bros hanging out, blowing off steam, doing things that friends do, you know….ha, ha…” he rambles miserably, and then forces a laugh.

Cisco grins at him and punches his shoulder fondly.

“Chill, Barry, I’m just messing with you. I’ve been trying to ask you out on a date for, like, weeks now. So yeah, it was…if you wanted it to be?” he says, tacking on the last part with uncharacteristic uncertainty. Barry has half a mind to tell him ‘no’ because of the stunt he just pulled, but he isn’t that cruel. Besides, he has other things in mind.

“Yeah, I wanted it to be.”

As soon as Barry says it Cisco breaks out into that adorable grin of his, the one he has when he’s really excited about something, and  _fuck_ if they’re just really good friends. They watch Star Trek for a little bit in comfortable silence, occasionally making some quip or remark, and Barry doesn’t even realize when he starts to lean on Cisco’s shoulder. They make it about halfway through another episode before Cisco scoots so that he’s facing Barry on the couch, and then they both seem to have pretty much the same idea.

“Hey, Barry,” Cisco breathes, his face very, very close, and Barry feels his heart speed up in response. “I was just wondering, if that thing I mentioned before…well, whether you had any chance to test it out. And, you know, how that’s working out for you.”

“Well…” is Barry’s only response, and Cisco decides he’d rather find out firsthand anyway.

It’s sort of refreshing that this time when it happens, when Cisco’s fingers start to trail lower and lower down his chest and as his lips meet his, Barry doesn’t really have to hide what happens next, the same thing that happened the last time he tried this. He doesn’t have to hide anything from Cisco, really. It’s a nice thought.

“Woah,” Cisco says, pulling away with a satisfied little smirk, his eyes dancing with excitement. Barry feels himself blush and shifts awkwardly under Cisco’s gaze, his skin finally settling, the vibrations pulsing through his body finally coming to a stop.

“Yeah, uh…yeah. That’s a thing that happens sometimes.”

Cisco nods seriously, looking quite pleased, leaning down again to close the small distance between them. Barry feels the familiar buzz start up again in response.

“Dude. We can totally work with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on my [tumblr](http://bisexualiriswest.tumblr.com/), as most of my prompt fills are.


End file.
